Seeing Red

“Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” - William Shakespeare
The 2008/2009 Rocket season will stand to be the defining moment for a team with a history of stumbling upon the path to greatness. Misaligned and mangled stars have far too often changed the fate of a franchise filled with championship hopes and aspirations. This year the Rockets are born anew and like the mythical phoenix they will rise up through the ashes of game seven implosions and first round exits.

For years now they have relied on tremendous heart and a never give up attitude, but have lacked the talent to execute down the stretch. Now bolstered by the key additions of Brent Barry and Ron Artest, Houston has truly transformed into a team of legend. Last year’s 22 game winning streak proved to onlookers that this team was unique to say the least. They fought for each other as brothers would, and in doing so became a single working organism whose sum was much greater than its parts. They finally have the pieces to not only compete with the league’s elite but to win against them. Perhaps the scariest thing about Houston is their now overwhelming talent and versatility. They are a chameleon capable of beating you at your game and destroying you with theirs.

Everything is on the line this year for seemingly everyone on the team. Rick Adelman has always been praised among the league’s best coaches, but has never been able to win the big one. It takes two seasons to master his offense, as all of his former players attest to, and we will be playing our best ball heading into the postseason. Houston’s two best players, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, have never been past the first round despite being otherworldly talents. I understand the injury concerns, but every elite team in the league would perish with the loss of a star. Mark my words, once T-Mac is fully healed, he will wreak havoc on the court and lay it all on the line. He has favored his knee to date, but I am here to tell you that it is completely a mental issue, and he will end up having his greatest season. Yao on the other hand was playing some of the best ball of his life before he went down. I fully expect him to return to that form, and he will benefit from the rest that comes with blowing teams out early and often. Ron Artest is fighting to earn his big pay day and has promised to do whatever his team asks of him. Frankly, I believe him. I feel like he can have a Randy Moss to the Patriots type impact on this team, and will make everyone’s job a whole lot easier. He is the best two way player in the game and, along with Battier, will shut down all star guards on the regular.

Our defense this year will be second to none. The funny thing about defense is that, like passing, it becomes infectious and Houston has one hell of an outbreak on their hands. When you take into consideration the leaps taken by Landry, Scola, and Brooks it really isn’t fair. Simply put there is too much chemistry, too much talent, and too much on the line to fail. If they are successful on their road to glory then they will find themselves ever immortalized among the game’s all time greats. Questions about their health and ability to put it all together run rampant; when the real question may be just how many rings will they have once the smoke finally clears.

 

Ah, you must be the resident Days of Our Lives fan. Quote caught my eye and kept with the theme of something great going down this year. Seen a little too much Laker love and respect out there, so I wanted to nix that with a Rocket praising thread. I'm not one of those only on paper skeptics as I'm sure you can tell. We have the best team in the league and it's about time more people started to act like it. Some may say it's the Celtics until they are dethrowned and that's fair, but imo we are younger, more talented, and wicked f*ing hungry.